The Winona Karenina Principle
by myboygeorge
Summary: What happens when the sexy Winona waltzes back into Sheldon's life and turns him upside down again? Rated M for safety reasons of future chapters
1. Definitely a Thursday

_Hello lovers and other strangers! With the premiere of BBT tomorrow at 8pm I couldn't resist another story with Winona and Sheldon. The overwhelming response to the first one (38 reviews, the highest on the BBT page of !) involving these two personalities told me I had to bring them back. So sit back, and hang on as we dive back into the world of Sheldon and Winona and hilarity ensuing!_

* * *

Sheldon woke up on Thursday with a profound sense of impending doom. He knew that it was possible for it to simply be leftover agitated emotions from an REM cycle dream pattern but somethign else, something his rational mind could fully comprehend, told him that was simply a default protection state of the mind. He rose, showered, dressed himself and was eating cereal when his phone beeped, informing him of an incoming text message. He checked it, then felt a quick rumble in his stomach that had nothing to do with the lack of Mini-Wheats therein and everything to do with the little letters on the screen of his cellphone.

_Hey Sheldon, it's Noni. I know we haven't talked much since we split up, but I'd really like to meet you for coffee. I need to talk about something with you, it's important._

Sheldon sat, transfixed by the message and not really caring that his cereal had turned to mush. Winona Phillips. Noni. That flexible firebird who'd introduced him to a world of hitherto unknown sexual pleasures and had, sexually speaking, made him a man at the age of twenty-nine. They'd ended things amicably enough when she had told him that she wasn't ready for a real relationship just yet and didn't want to use him for just rebound sex because she felt they had a truly genuine connection. The fact that Winona had been able to think this of him made Sheldon scratch his head, then finally concede it on the grounds that he had no desire to reduce his first lover to tears on purpose. They'd stayed in touch minimally but her being out of town for awhile on research at the Smithsonian and at the National Film Registry made it both easy and difficult at the same time. The message on his phone was the first he'd even heard she was back in town, a feeling that stung more than a little.

He was still staring at his phone when Leonard bopped into the room, a smile on his face that could only be put there by one person and one thing. Distantly, Sheldon heard Leonard mumbling about his perspective on the great morning that was shining in through the windows but Sheldon could only sit and stare. It wasn't until he felt Leonard's hand on his shoulder that he finally acknowledged his presence.

"What happen, did you get a message from Leslie Winkle correcting your work again?"

"Noni messaged me. She says that she needed to talk to me about something."

Leonard gulped down his coffee in a hurry. "Noni? As in Winona, the girl who broke your heart?"

"She didn't break my heart. Unless I'm presenting symptoms of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, you can't say she broke my heart." Sheldon pouted a little. "What does that infernal gypsy-witch want with me, anyways."

"One of the universe's great mysteries." Truth be told, Leonard was still amazed at how Sheldon got laid in the first place, and with a woman no less. Until Winona, Leonard had harboured suspicions that his roommate was gay, but one look at Winona, who was built like every American nerd's wet dream seemed to be proof enough that Sheldon did in fact like sex with women and not men. Looking at his watch, Leonard dumped the last few mouthfuls of coffee down the sink and grabbed his keys. "We better get going if we're goign to pick up the guys."

"Uh-huh," was Sheldon's absentminded response. He picked up his work notes and coat, got into Leonards car mechanically, debating the entire time as to whether or not he should meet with Winona. If he didn't, she might think that he was socially rebuffing her and their tenuous relationship would be ended for good, and this would mean also the end of possible booty-calls or more when either one of them needed the human connection, so to say. On the other, meeting her could invite back in all those complicated sticky emotions that he had no capacity or strength of governence for. The last time he felt like he'd barely escaped intact.

Leonard, too, could see that something was troubling his rommate and tapped his hands on the steering wheel. "At the very least, text her back one way or the other. She deserves at least that much, plus it's the socially considerate thing to do."

Sheldon made a noise in his throat; he'd already made his decision, but knew his roommate needed the validation of his advice being given. Picking up his phone, Sheldon texted Winona back.

_I can meet you at the Cafe Cafe at seven._

Not fifteen seconds after he sent it, he got a response: _Perfect. See you then. xx Winona._

Cafe Cafe was, Sheldon always thought, _their_ place. It was where Winona and he had gone after the yoga class with Penny where theyd first met. Theyd shared their first kiss at one of the tables when the place had been all but deserted. Sheldon, still in his clothes from work, walked in with his hands stuffed in his pockets at precisely six-fifty-eight and was surprised to see Winona already sitting at one of the tables in the back corner. Once again, just like the first time theyd kissed, Sheldon got the feeling that hed swallowed a zipper and it was being dragged down to the bottom of his stomach.

She was even more beautiful than hed remembered. Shed lost a little weight, but that beauitful curvy figure that was all hip and breast and tummy and ass was still there. The wild mane of curls framed that round Frisian face and her blue eyes immediately brightened when she saw him. She waved a hand at him in greeting, while he, not knowing just what to do, raised his hand to return the gesture as he sat down.

"I was so glad to hear from you. It's been a little while, hasn't it?"

"Seven week, three days and about nine hours, I think." Sheldon knew exactly how long it was because he'd kept a timer running in his room . "So what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

The only way to do it, Winona decided, was to treat it like an epi-pen shot: one quick jab into the tender flesh.

"I'm pregnant."

* * *


	2. Great Big Anvil

Winona waited on edge, breath held in, for Sheldon's reaction. She'd been terrified to even tell him, given that she was his one and only lover - she was pretty sure she knew him well enough to believe that unless the woman initiated any kind of physical relationship all others he would remain celibate - but there was no denying the fact that three weeks after she'd ended it with Sheldon, she'd skipped a period, and was now facing this horribly difficult conversation. It would be hard with anyone she'd broken up with but Sheldon...he'd been difficult to let go, and Fate, it seemed, was not without a sense of humour.

As she relieved all these emotions of the last two months, she felt a small ray of hope glint through her dark and murky thoughts when Sheldon smiled a little.

"Good for you, I believe you have many natural nurturing skills to make a good mother," he said as he sipped his coffee.

Winona smiled as overwhelming relief flooding her veins. Then came the great big anvil on her head.

"I don't understand why you'd be telling this to me, though. We went our separate ways almost three months ago."

Winona could only stare in dumbfounded disbelief. Was he really that much of a dunce with women? Had he not had anyone around him go through this? Or was he truly just innocent as to how a relationship like theirs might have complications? Taking pity on him, she reached across the table, put her hand on his arm just as she had done with him when she'd first kissed him.

"Sheldon," she said as gently as possible, "I told you because it's your baby too."

Winona waited once again as Sheldon sat stock still in his seat. All his movement seemed to have stopped, including his breathing. She waved a hand in front of his face, but there was no reaction from him whatsoever.

"Sheldon please say something." But the only response was silence. Biting her lip, Winona dug out her cellphone and dialled the only person she thought could help.

"Penny, hi. Listen, I've got a problem."

* * *

Penny waited at the front doors of the building, her teeth chattering a little in the cool September air of California. She hadn't had the time to ask Winona any questions of what the hell was going on, but from the sounds of things, it would become quite apparant as to why when they arrived her assistance would be needed.

At least it got her out of her appartment, and not thinking about how things had turned out with Leonard. She knew he still had a crush on her, but things had just gone so horribly wrong at the end of their date - and the funny thing was, it had been tricky to go back to being friends but they were still managing to do it somehow. She'd even agreed to go to Halo night the following night with the guys to 'fill in' when one needed a break for the bathroom or whatever. Maybe she could even find a little time with Leonard to really talk to him and find out if there wasn't some way to fix what little romantic history they had together, maybe-

Her thoughts were shattered when Winona came screeching into the parking lot. Though she was many things, in Penny's opinion a good driver was not one of them. She bounded forward ready to help, them stopped dead when she saw Winona helping a nearly catatonic Sheldon out of the passenger's seat.

"Oh my god, what happened, Noni?"

Winona grunted under the strain of the geek's dead weight, his arm slung across her shoulders. "I told him I'm pregnant with his child."

Penny gasped. "Oh my God! You're having a baby? And with Sheldon? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, three EPT tests and a doctor don't lie, and I know it's his because he's the only guy I've had sex with since Mike and I broke up, and there's no way it'd be Mike's. Now help me out here."

Penny rushed forward to take the balance of Sheldon's weight - at least he could still move his feet - and they rushed him up the stairs as quickly as they could to his apartment. As Penny suspected, the rest of the guys were playing video games - this time it appeared to be Wolowitz versus Hofstadter in Wii boxing - but all action stopped when they saw the women all but dragging Sheldon into the apartment.

"What the hell happened to him?" Leonard asked in disbelief as they deposited Sheldon into the overstuffed cream armchair.

"Two girls that attractive touching him? I think they broke his brain," Howard offered, turning to watch the spectacle.

Laughing, Winona slumped onto the couch and snagged a bottle of water off the table. "No, no, nothing like that. Remember how Sheldon and I were involved a few months ago?"

"Oh we all remember," Leonard agreed, as Raj took the Wii remote from him and prepared for the next round. "Why?"

"I'm pregnant," Winona offered with a sigh of great weight.

"Pregnant," Sheldon echoed, "She said pregnant."

"I told him tonight, and that's all he's been able to say since I told him," Winona said, gesturing at the skinny scientist, still registering the looks of complete shock and confoundment on his friends' faces.

Raj whispered something to Howard, who nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you definitely broke his brain."


	3. Sheldon Snaps Out of It

"Pregnant. She said pregnant."

"We know Sheldon."

"Pregnant. She said-"

"We know what she said!" Leonard exclaimed, ready to lose his mind at his roommates catatonic mumblings. He'd been able to shuffle Raj and Howard out the door with minimal fuss, which surprised him considering how much they both loved to hear about Sheldon's relationship with Winona. Winona had stayed on the couch, and Penny had begun to help Leonard tidy up from the guys' night in. Sheldon, it seemed, hadn't budged an inch since he'd been deposited in the chair. He simply continued to stare straight ahead and every so often spout out his new mantra.

"How are you feeling, Winona?" Penny asked, absently passing Leonard the rest of the snack bags, their hands brushing slightly.

"Freaked out. I mean, not financially, my family's loaded and I've got my savings and trustfund. It's the parenting options, on the one hand I'm a single parent which is never easy, and on the other, I'm involved with a man who may have suffered permanent brain damage.

"I have not."

Sheldon's retort had everyone in the room looking at him; it was the first new thing he'd said in nearly an hour. He was still white as a ghost, moreso than usual, and his hands were clenched into tight fists, but he was blinking and starting to get his bearings. "How did I get here."

"That's not important right now," Winona started, then stopped when Sheldon looked at her, and for the first time, she saw something resembling misery on his face.

"Noni, I am so sorry for my completely inappropriate reaction, but you have to understand what a shock this is for me."

"For you?" Leonard tried to keep his own surprise out of his voice. "How about us who thought that you'd never even have a girlfriend?"

"Way to be supportive Leonard," Penny put in sarcastically, making him shrug. "Noni, I'm sure you and Sheldon want some privacy to talk things through, um Lenoard why don't we go over to my place, let them have some time alone."

Leonard nodded in agreement, and once again, Winona and Sheldon were alone. The silence was heavy between them, but at least Sheldon was coherent and could talk. Shifting closer on the couch, Winona linked her fingers together and pursed her lips.

"So, what do you think?"

"Not to sound too cold or indifferent, but are you sure I am the one responsible for fertilizing the fruit of your ovaries?"

"Yes, I am. I'd stopped sleeping with my boyfriend before you about three months before we met, and I was wanting some time for myself after you and I decided to go our separate ways, so mathematical logic would tell you that there's only one possibility."

"Actually, it wouldn't be mathematical logic, it would be biological logic." Feeling like himself a little more, Sheldon moved his hands from the arms of the chair into his lap, and for the first time, looked at Winona. "Are you exhibiting any early symptoms of the first trimester of gestation? Nausea, cravings, gas both esophegal and intestinal, excessive fluid retention?"

"Just a little morning sickness."

"Morning sickness is technically an inaccurate phrase, because most women experience the nausea well after midday and some even into the afternoon and evening hours."

Winona laughed a little even as she got a little choked up; Sheldon was coming around to his senses. Reaching out she put a hand over his and said, "It's good to have you back."

"What does this mean for me? Are we going to enter into a legally binding union so that in the eyes of the Lord the child won't be starting off with its soul on the short road to hell?"

"More than anything I wanted you to know, it just...it didn't feel right that I should keep it to myself." Winona patted his hands. "The ball is in your court now." At his blank look, she sighed. "Sheldon, the decision is yours to make now, what do you want to do?"

"I want a drink."

"Okay." Winona passed him a bottle of water, which he drained in less than two minutes. "So?"

"Well, I think, as the pater familis of this zygote, I should be involved and take on a certain amount of responsibility. I'd like a list of all your doctor's appointments from when you got confirmation of the pregnancy up to your next one, as well as any medical histories of your family that it would be pertinent to keep an eye on during the length of the foetus' incubation."

Winona felt the little bubble of hope burst. Leave it to Dr. Sheldon C. Cooper to turn what should have been a happy resolution of the situation into a cold and sterile business transaction. Straightening her jacket, she stood up and walked to the door. Thanks to the hormones, the shock, and most of all the hurt, the tears sprang into her eyes like she'd flipped a switch. "Fine. I'll send you a text when my next doctor's appointment is coming up, and I'll be sure to get you your bloody lists."

"Is something wrong?" Sheldon asked, genuinely confused as Winona all but stalked to the door of the apartment. "Are the hormonal processes already overtaking your rational processors in your brain?"

Because her pregnancy had made her filters all but disappear, and her patience with idiotic men grind down to zero percent, Winona turned back as she left her hand on the doorknob. "No, Sheldon, I was just stupid enough to think that the news of me carrying your child might actually make you seem more human."

Sheldon felt the barb of her words as if they'd been real traquilizer darts full of box-jellyfish poison. He'd been called many things but inhuman was not one of them. While he hadn't always been charitable to his fellow homo sapiens, he certainly hadn't been as cold and indifferent as Winona was painting him now. Going with his instincts, he shot back, "I am most certainly human, as you well know from our nights spent procreating together, and pardon me if the news that the only woman I've slept with is pregnant. It's not exactly the opening line of a conversation I anticipated having with you tonight."

"What did you think was going to happen?"

"Certainly not this. But for the love of God, don't go out that door in such a state. For one thing, being so angry will increase your chances of being involved in a traffic collision, resulting in multiple complications for the baby."

Then, with an unknown force motivating him - perhaps it was how vulnerable Winona looked as she'd started wiping at her tearing eyes - Sheldon crossed to her and put a hand over hers, the other one on her cheek. He brushed a thumb over the tear dripping down her cheek, the tenderness of the gesture surprising them both. "I'm asking you not to go."

Winona nodded numbly. "I won't if you won't."


	4. Meanwhile, Across the Hall

As Sheldon and Winona ordered a late night pizza - another precedent broken for the narrow-framed scientist, as he'd never eaten a meal in his life past the hour of nine pm - and discussed the situation from the very beginning, Leonard sat on Penny's couch absently flipping through the channels and feeling as far from relaxed as it was possible to feel. How could he feel relaxed with just the two of them there like this, something they'd down countless times before...before their relationship came to such a crashing halt after he'd discovered she'd lied about the whole interest in college things and had only gone back to try and impress him. Not only had the romantic side of things ended but it was even harder still to maintain their friendship, knowing that they had such a tangled and sticky romantic history as well.

No wonder Sheldon had been so irritated when they'd left for work that morning, Leonard started to think when another thought hit him and chilled him to the bone. Had he acted like Sheldon was acting now, after his liaison with Penny had imploded? No, no, that would be impossible, he concluded hastily. In order to transform into Sheldon, he'd not only have to lose all common concept of social conventions and structures, but also grow about four and a half inches in height. Still, it would be nice to be able to have an evening with Penny alone like they used to and not feel like his colon was tying itself into a sheepshank knot.

Hoping for a little distraction, Leonard glanced over to Penny's kitchen table where she was sitting and working on her laptop, apparantly engrossed in an online video of a Jenny McCarthy interview.

"So how crazy is this, that Sheldon got a girl knocked up?"

"The only thing worse than thinking about Sheldon being capable of reproduction is thinking about what would be sexually attractive to him. I mean can you see him ever buying porn?"

Leonard closed his mouth; the derision and tension in Penny's voice was one he'd heard before and he knew that it would be unwise to pursue any kind of conversation with her. He turned his attention back to the television and found a rerun of _Stargate SG-1_ he hadn't seen in awhile, and was watching quietly for a straight ten minutes before Penny spoke to him again.

"I'm making tea, would you like some?"

"Sure that'd be nice."

The heavy silence returned once again, as the scent of warm fragrant water filled the apartment, making Penny feel like a total heel. She knew that it shouldn't have to be so awkward with Leonard. Why did they have to act like polite strangers so often now? It both sucked and blew at the same time, if it was at all possible. Pouring the tea, she added cream to hers and without even thinking she added the two spoons of sugar she knew Leonard would enjoy. Just the sort of gesture that would have once been a token of friendly thoughtfulness, and now seemed like a tactic of an exgirlfriend seeking attention. Was she his ex? Was she not? There were still too many questions to have answered, and finding some of those answers would probably be more painful than she cared to know.

She took the cups over to the living room table and sat down beside him. "I'm sorry for biting your head off," she said quietly, avoiding his careful gaze. "I was distracted."

"It's all right, I guess." Leonard's voice was full of weary resignation, used to women snapping at him for no reason other than him opening his mouth.

"No it's not, we're both still shocked, I think. I mean it's one of my closest friends, and...Sheldon. I mean, could you ever picture Sheldon with a woman?"

"Not unless she was an exact replicant of him with breasts."

The laugh escaped from Penny before she could stop it, and moved closer to Leonard. "I just couldn't help thinking, what if it had been us?"

"What if it had been us what?"

"What if it had been us who'd split up and then you found out I was pregnant from the few times we spent the night together."

Leonard had thought about it - he hadn't been able to stop thinking about it - and dragged his hand across his face. "Well, hopefully I wouldn't become catatonic when you told me, like Sheldon apparantly did. And I'd try to do the right thing for you, whatever you would think that'd be."

"Well, you tried to do the right thing for me before, and look how that turned out," Penny retorted without thinking. The last word was just out of her mouth when she saw the look on Leonard's face, one of wincing pain and awkwardly embarrassing memories rushing back to him. "Oh Leonard, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean..."

"I think I'm going to go for a walk," Leonard said getting to his feet. He was almost to the door when he felt Penny's hand on his shoulder, turning im back around.

"Leonard, I'm very sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I only thought that...well, I mean I know you tried to do the right thing for me and I was a little nasty to you about it."

"It's okay, really-"

"No it's not. I've always had a difficult time with men doing nice things for me because they genuinely want to do something nice. I've never been in a relationship or friendship with a guy who didn't give something with no strings. Not like the way you do."

Leonard felt the warm liquid rush in his belly he'd first felt when Penny kissed him nearly a year before on Hallowe'en: a mixture of hope and cold reality. "You're just saying that because you don't want me to leave here upset with you."

"Leonard I really mean it. You're the first..." Penny trailed off as a sudden rush of tears filled her eyes and her throat. "You're the first guy who I think has ever genuinely liked me. Not what I look like, not what I can do for you physically or whatever, just me. And I hate this."

She was crying in earnest now, and for the first time in her life, didn't give a damn about it. "I hate not being able to spend time with you like we used to before we started dating, or spending the night with you. And I really hate not being able to kiss you, because you're so good at it, and it just makes me feel special how you'd kiss me, and..." Penny trailed off as the tears got the best of her and she threw her arms around his neck, weeping like a child against Leonard's shoulder.

Leonard had no idea that she'd been feeling so bottled up, regretting their decision to end things so abruptly. He brought his arms around her in an automatic gesture to soothe, placed one hand gently on the back of her head to stroke her soft blond hair. Then she whispered something that made him nearly forget everything in the universe.

"No one has made love with me the way you do, and I miss it, so much."

At this, Leonard leaned back a little, brushed a tear away from Penny's cheek. Her eyes were so full of hope and longing, Leonard did the only thing he could think of only one right thing to do: he crushed his lips against Penny's, feeling her tremble with shock, then finally settle on a sigh of acceptance and a little lust. When they came up for air, Leonard pulled her tight against him and whispered back, "Why don't we start back at square one and go on our third first date?"

"I'd love that."


	5. Bitter Bacon Battles

The following morning, Winona awoke from a deep sleep by the rolling nausea of morning sickness, and for a moment she had a fleeting panic of unfamiliar surroundings. She rolled over in the bed and came nose-to-shoulder with Sheldon. _Oh right,_ she remembered as she pressed a hand to her eyes. She'd spent the night with Sheldon, the most awkward of the nights they'd spent together; it even trumped the first night they'd had sex (which delightful as it had been had most definitely been awkward when it came to the 'do you have a condom' phase, which turned out to be unnecessary anyways).

She detoured to the bathroom as she felt the acids in her stomach churn viciously. Right from the very beginning she could tell this was Sheldon's child - like clockwork, she was woken up at the same time every morning and would spend the next hour puking her guts out, and this morning was no exception. With practiced lightening quick moves, she raced for the toilet, slamming the bathroom door hard enough to rattle the window. When she'd finished expelling bile so violently she thought her organs might be dislodged, she flushed and walked into the living room, where - as expected - she found Sheldon at his laptop. His robe was neatly belted and there was a bowl of cereal at his elbow, yet he still had bed-head. He was, in a word, adorable.

What perverse strand of hormones made her want him like she did, Winona thought bemusedly as she walked up behind him and put her hands on his shoulders. "Whatcha workin' on? New refractory experiments?"

"Oh please, I stopped working with light-refraction when I was thirteen," Sheldon scoffed, as he felt Winona's hands on his body. He'd gotten used to the casual human contact from her, but it still gave him a little rush of adrenaline when she did. "Actually, I got an idea from what we talked about last night regarding your pregnancy."

Winona sighed a little. "Sheldon, we agreed that it was best not to get married just because you're scared of what your mother would say."

"No, it's not that, and I am not scared of her. She isn't such a fundamentalist that she thinks premarital sex would send her only son straight to hell. Nevertheless, that's not what I'm working on."

"Then what is it?"

Sheldon shifted his laptop so she could see the screen; when she leaned over, he caught a whiff of the leftover perfume she'd worn the night before. He knew that it was simply his pheremones reacting to hers, but that didn't stop her from smelling like what he assumed would be heaven. "It's called the Mommy-Monitor. It's an online journal for you to read about various stages of development, and gives you full colour artist's renditions of each week of the foetus' growth. And there's this."

He clicked a button, and Winona read on a laugh, "The Mommy Muncher?"

"Yes, it's a dietary calendar so that you can program in all your meals and it will tell you what vitamins or other substances you need in order to ensure your developing child's health."

"What about cravings, you know whatever baby wants, baby gets?"

"Ah." Sheldon held up a finger like Sherlock Holmes anticipating a question from Dr. Watson. "If you look on this page right here, it shows you what healthy alternatives you can choose instead of nitrates and excessive chemicals found in most processed foods."

"But...aren't there days when you want a Quarter-Pounder with cheese and you just might kill someone if you don't get it?"

"A quarter pound of what with cheese? Oh right the sandwich. I don't usually get cravings as a rule, I find that keeping my diet as balanced as possible results in a limited need to feed the inner junkfood whore most humans seem to have."

As Sheldon continued to show Winona how the software worked, Leonard wandered back into the apartment wearing the same clothes he'd been wearing the night before. He didn't really care about the fact he'd spent the night have his spine turned into a crazy-straw on her rather uncomfortable couch, nor did he care that most of the night was spent alone on said couch or that she'd all but punted him out the door like a football because she'd overslept and needed to get to school. Things were finally looking up for them in their winding-road of a relationship. Maybe just maybe they'd be able to work things out after-all.

"Morning Sheldon, Winona." When his greeting was greeted with nothing, Leonard eyed them suspiciously. "Something wrong?"

As if coming out of a fog, Winona and Sheldon glanced over at the intruder. All the giddiness Leonard felt of making a dinner date with Penny for the evening was gone as he watched his roommate and the mother of his child (and wasn't _that_ a weird phrase to attach to Sheldon Cooper, Ph.D.) give him a look like he was a lower lifeform.

"What do you want?" was Sheldon's frosty reply.

"A shower for one thing. I have to get to the lab soon, and so do you."

"I'm not going in today."

"What?" Leonard and Winona asked in shocked confusion, with Leonard adding, "Is this going to be like the last time when you started luminescing goldfish?"

"I'm spending the day with Winona. She has a doctor's appointment and there is still a lot for us to discuss." With that Sheldon turned back to the program, causing Leonard to get ready for the day and Winona to be bewildered. She leaned over his shoulder once again, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

Winona smiled and gave him a light kiss on the lips. "Just thank you. Want some breakfast? I'm in the mood for bacon and eggs."

"Acutally, according to the Mommy Muncher, you should be having fresh fruit and some kind

Winona shrugged as she poured a glass of juice. "Can't I have fruit with my bacon and eggs?"

"Fine, if you want to give our child cholesteral poisoning before it's born who am I to stop you."

"One plate of bacon and eggs is not going to hurt me."

"According to my research, pregnant women are supposed to avoid high amounts of eggs and meat so as not to increase risks of exposure to various strains of bacteria that could be fatal to unborn babies."

"Again, one plate of bacon and eggs is not going to hurt me."

Standing, Sheldon narrowed his eyes and folded his thin arms across his chest. "

"Sheldon, honey, it's my body that's going through all of the change, I think I'd be the best monitor of what I need, along with a trained M.D., don't you agree?"

"Oh please, most doctors drink their way through medical school, which I think is resulting in an ever-increasing prevelance of misdiagnosises."

Winona just shook her head. It was a good thing they'd agreed to only tell Sheldon's mother at the appropriate time and not her parents; Sheldon and Mary would probably be the only level of crazy she could handle without adding her booze-hound country club mother and her adulterous father into the equation. Setting a pan on the stove, she went to the refrigerator and took out the carton of eggs.

"Sheldon, for the fourth and final time, I'm having bacon and eggs, you can either be an ass and join me, or be an ass and shut up."

Sheldon simply kept his eyes narrowed. "Fine. You turn on that pan, and I will text Howard on when the hormones cause a significant increase in the size of your mammary glands, along with your address, then provide him with a digital camera and cut him a copy of my key to your apartment." As Winona's head whipped around, a look of pure horror registered on her face, Sheldon smirked smugly. "Am I making myself clear?"

"You'd sicc that disgusting horny little twerp on me when my tits turn ginormous all because I won't eat fruit and oatmeal for breakfast?"

"Absolutely."

"Fine." On a huff, Winona returned the bacon and eggs to the fridge, and took out the box of oatmeal from the cupboard above the stove.

At his computer, Sheldon made a note in her Mommy Muncher blog. _Today I was cranky but healthy because I listened to my boyfriend_, he began to write, a little superior smile on his face, _and I will continue to listen to him, on pain of Wolowitz._


	6. Duelling Dillemmas

"Come on, Noni, help me out here."

"Sorry, Penny, I've got a lot on my mind."

"I thought we both agree this little shopping trip was to help us both forget our boy troubles."

"No, yours is boy troubles, mine is mother troubles, which I think is far worse."

"I'm not trying to turn it into a contest, Noni-"

"Right, because a third first date with a guy you're obviously crazy about is such a hardship. I'm going to dinner tonight with the guy who got me knocked up and his very scary Christian mother who I'm pretty sure, for one reason or another, still thinks her son is a sparkling-white virgin."

Winona sat on the bench of the Walking on Sunshine shoe store, studied shelf after shelf of back-breaking high heeled shoes that would leave her unborn child wanting to punch her in the bladder and sighed. After a week of being back together with Sheldon, Winona's spirits had improved...until that morning when Sheldon told his mother that his girlfriend was pregnant and all hell had broken loose. Winona had bolted from the apartment and barricaded herself in her office until Penny had found her and all but dragged her from the university in the hopes to get her mind off of her troubles. Winona knew Penny well enough to know this meant an afternoon of girl-pampering: shoe-shopping, lunch, possibly facials or a manicure, and finally, ice cream smoothies from their favourite scoop-shop, but over the course of the drive to the shoe boutique, both had been sullen and silent. Winona broke first, informing Penny that she, Winona, was now going to be facing the firing squad of Sheldon's mother, the most formidable Mary Cooper, at dinner. Penny confessed she was just as distracted herself from the fact that shortly before going to retrieve Winona from her personal hell Penny had received a text from Leonard letting her know that their third first date was on for that night.

Penny slid her feet into a rather cozy looking pair of flats. "Tell me how this came about again?"

"Sheldon and I were at his apartment and his mother called him, under the guise of 'hi honey, how are you' when it was really more like an interrogation with a checklist of questions to ask and answer."

"Understandable."

"Right, so then, he mentions the fact that he's back together with me, and that I'm pregnant by his doing. Next thing I know, she's invited herself out here for the weekend to 'sort this unholy mess out', beginning with the three of us having a quote-unquote, civilized meal together tonight."

Penny winced visibly. Though she knew Sheldon was 'improving' his behaviour and slowly but steadily understanding more 'social protocols', he still had that innate fear that every child has of their parents and cracked like an egg under the pressure she knew Mary was bound to have put on him. "Oh that can't be good at all. Have you guys talked about what you're going to say to her?"

"Aside from the standard 'no we won't go to hell if our child is born out of wedlock? Haven't the foggiest. I mean, what would you and Leonard say to his parents, or yours for that matter, if you all of a sudden popped up pregnant with his baby?"

"Oh, that's not a good idea to put in my head since there's a chance tonight's date could end in sex."

"But you understand my point."

Penny slid the shoes off her feet, looked over at her friend. Winona had certainly looked like she'd seen better days, which was sad given what she'd told Penny about Sheldon being so supportive in his weirdo way by getting the journal and nutrition software for her, and threatening her with Wolowitz was just downright funny and scary simultaneously. But there was still the shadows of fatigue and worry under her eyes. She imagined there were similar ones under her eyes as well since she'd gotten almost no sleep herself the night before, knowing that Leonard was sleeping on her couch. Penny had lain awake for hours, realizing she wanted nothing more than to curl up with him in her bed, his beautifully gentle hands on her body, pulling her close...okay, yeah, she definitely would have those circles under her eyes, she concluded. Sitting down beside her friend, Penny wrapped a supportive arm around Winona's shoulders.

"I'm sure everything will go just fine tonight. Where are you going to eat?"

"Um, that little English pub, Flannigan's on Rosemont."

"That's a good place. They do an amazing steak with these pan-fried mushrooms and onions and this yummy glaze-y sauce thing."

"Oh no, not to worry, Sheldon has already calculated - his word I might add - that I should be eating chicken with spinach and rice, and I can get a little crazy for my beverage of the evening, and order an orange juice with ginger ale."

"Oh my." Unable to Penny began to laugh, as it was such a typically Sheldon thing to do: Make the calculations, provide what he thought was an acceptable solution or conclusion and then be completely baffled when it all blew up in his face. "Is he going to do that the entire time?"

"God I hope not. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love Sheldon but when baby wants a Big Mac, baby's getting a Big Mac, and...what, what, what, why are you looking at me like that?" Winona trailed off, as Penny's face turned pale and glassy-eyed.

"You just said you love Sheldon. Sheldon," Penny repeated in a strained voice; her shock was only amplified by the fact that Winona's only response was a careless, matter-of-fact shrug.

"Well, I do, though God and the devil only knows why. There's never been anyone in my life like him, someone who actually cares about my work, and my well-being and now the baby's well being. Why wouldn't I love someone like that?"

Touched, Penny sniffled a little. "That is what you should tell Sheldon's mom. Romance will probably go a long way with her."

"No, no, no crying around a pregnant lady, my hormones can't take it," Winona warned her friend as she willed the tears back inside her head. Still, for safe measure, she took out a tissue and dabbed at the corners of her eyes. "What about you? We've only been focusing on my dillemma here. You're going on your third first date with Leonard. Isn't that a little weird."

"Completely, and yet...not really at all. In a way it's like a true first first-date, because one time I didn't realize it was supposed to be a date until it was actually happening, and the second time I was on the rebound from Mr. Bang-and-Blog, so this could be like the third time's the charm working out date."

Winona studied her friend and smiled a little. She could tell that Penny was nervous as all hell because there was no way normal Penny rambled in her speech that much. Apparantly she wasn't the only bonkers over an occupant of Apartment 4B. "All I can say is use a condom, sweets."

"I highly doubt that the evening is going to end in sex."

Winona only grinned. "That's what I thought went I went to yoga that night."

"Knowing my history with Leonard, I'd settle for a goodnight kiss that lasted longer than a millisecond." Flopping down on the bench beside Winona, Penny dragged her hands through her hair. "When did our boys become so complicated?"

"Somewhere between beer and video games, or in their case photon-lasers and ionized water."

"You ready for tonight?"

"Nope. You?"

"Not at all."

Winona clicked her tongue. "Okay. Let's go get ready."


	7. Dillemma 1 Solved

Winona checked her makeup in the rearview mirror of her car for the third since she parked outside Sheldon's building and found her hands were actually visibly shaking as she reached for the handle of the door. Normally when arriving at Sheldon's, she'd bounce out of the car, but this was different.

This was his mother. His _mother_, his very devout, Hindus-think-animals-are-magical, peach-and-lard-cobbler-making, Texan-Christian mother.

Winona would have very easily handled a mother like her own, someone from southern California who believed if you didn't have at least two drinks with lunch and four at dinner, you were in AA. She'd been dealing with that kind of woman all her life; a caring, sincerely concerned if overbearing force of nature like the one Penny described as Mary Cooper scared the ever-living piss right out of her.

Still, the cat was out of the bag, she had been told and now the question was how to deal with it. Walking to the door, she looked at her reflection in the glass. She'd chosen a simply black dress that was both stylish and covered just enough flesh that flirted with the line between 'hoochie mama' and 'sunday school mama'. Penny finally helped her pick out a pair of black leather Dr Scholl's flats which Winona grudgingly admitted were both stylish and comfortable. The only jewellery she wore was the gold locket that had belonged to her grandmother Dagmar, the sole person in Winona's life who'd given her any sense of purpose and direction. Dagmar had given it to her when she'd received her bachelor's degree and Winona had never taken it off since.

When she reached Sheldon's apartment, she braced herself as she knocked on the door. Much to her relief, Sheldon answered the door, dressed in what appeared to be a new pair of pants and a sportscoat.

"Hello, you look lovely." He took her elbow to gently guide her into the room, closing the door behind her.

"You look lovely too. New clothes?"

"My mother insisted we go shopping this afternoon." Sheldon could all but sense the tension radiating off of his girlfriend like light pulses refracting in a prism arc. Moving his hand from her elbow down to clutch her hand, he gave it a squeeze; talking to Leonard had told him this was a gesture of comfort to most women in uncomfortable or nervewracking situations. "Would you like to meet her?"

"Yeah, I would."

"Very well." Sheldon guided her over to the living room area, where a woman of slight height and stern build sat on the overstuffed leather armchair. Her shoulder length brown hair showed not a strand of grey, and was pulled back from a handsome, face full of love and curiosity. She wore a suit of navy blue serge with a cream coloured blouse, and matching pumps on her feet. "Mom, this is Winona Phillips, Noni, this is my mother Mary Cooper."

"It's nice to meet you," Winona said warmly, relieved when Mary shook the hand she'd stretched out.

"Well, it is lovely to meet you as well. I have to say I was more than a little shocked to hear the news from my son this morning." And, indeed, she had flipped over to the weather network to see if it was a full moon or if hell had frozen over. Relieved that it hadn't, she knew that she would have to get an explanation from her son as to why he would allow himself to fornicate with a woman without any consideration to the consequences. Still, the girl seemed respectable enough and Mary drew her hand back so she could get her purse. "Shall we head out to dinner now?"

Flannigan's was, as expected, a quaint little Irish-style pub, filled with the homey scents of freshly baked bread, Irish dark ale, and frying fish. The medley of aromas had Winona's mouth watering and wondered if there was any way she could bribe Sheldon into letting her having some halibut, tender white and flakey inside of a deep-fried Guiness batter along with some Irish chips, the fried potato inside light and fluffy and begging for ketchup.

The waiter steered them towards a window table, poured water as he rattle off the specials of the day. Once he'd scuttled away, Mary picked up her water glass and surveyed her son's woman.

"So how did you two meet?"

Winona took a deep breath; at least the woman was going to start with a grapefruit and not a hardball. "At a yoga class. Our mutual friend Penny brought him with her to a class I was teaching, and we hit it off and had a coffee together after the class was done."

"And how long before you engaged in the intimacy that brought on your current situation?"

Before Winona could answer this question - and she would have most definitely answered it honestly - Sheldon jumped in ahead of her. "We're both consenting adults, Mom, we decided to engage in such a physical relationship when we both felt the time was right."

It wasn't an answer at all, Mary noted, but then, Sheldon had always been one to keep his private life just that - private. She'd known for absolute certainty when her other two children had begun engaging in premarital relations, but Sheldon...well, up until he'd called and mentioned his girlfriend was pregnant with his child, she wasn't even sure he was all that interested in girls at all. Before she could fit in another question, the waiter came by to take their order.

"I'll start with the seven mushroom soup, and then I'll have the steak with the butter sauce and mashed potatoes."

The waiter jotted down Mary's order and turned to Winona. "And for you, miss?"

"She'll have the chicken breast, baked with very little seasoning, with rice and a spinach salad," Sheldon supplied for her, "and I'll have the same."

"Sheldon, seriously. Baby's wanting a nice big helping of fish and chips."

"Well, baby's cholesteral will thank him soon enough when he doesn't have neonatal heart problems because of diet during pregnancy."

Winona took Sheldon's hand in hers, looked at him. "That'll only work for so long, until I get out weigh you by a hundred pounds and can crush you just by hugging you."

"Crush away but you'll still be following the health program I set up for you." Then, in a totally unprecedented gesture, Sheldon brought Winona's hand to his lips and gently grazed the knuckles. "You're stuck with me."

Winona felt her heart flutter romantically. "Fine, I'll eat the rabbit food, provided that I get cake for desert."

"Deal."

As Sheldon kissed Winona's hand a second time, Mary felt something inside her shift. She'd come to town on a high of self-righteousness, telling her son's bed partner that they now had an obligation in the eyes of the lord to get married due to the nature of hte baby's conception. Now that she was here, had met the woman, she was beginning to have some doubts that forcing her son into marriage would be the best solution for the child. She was devout in her beliefs, yes, but she was also human, and woman, and Christian, enough to recognize strong human connection when it was right in front of her. Members of her church had gone through such relationships, including having children, only to legalize the union and have everything fall apart. It was quite clear to her that this was a situation where Sheldon needed to look after himself, not have his mother come storming into town to push dogma down his throat.

By the end of the meal, part of that reserved guard had broken down when she realized as well that her baby boy, her only son, was ass over tea-kettle in love with this lovely young woman. It was no surprise that Mary's first reaction was relief, as like so many others, she'd wondered over her son's sexuality - although she and her pastor were problably the only ones worried about if it would put his everlasting soul in mortal jeopardy. And Sheldon had always had difficulty expressing himself in emotional terms...perhaps he hadn't simly found the right person to express it with.

At the end of the evening, the cheque was signed, and when Sheldon made for the men's room, Winona felt the sick grinding feeling come back into her stomach as she felt Mary's eyes giving her the Texas once-over, something she was sure wasn't too terribly welcomed or flattering. Before she could stop herself, though, Winona was opening her mouth.

"Listen, Mary, I know how strong your religious beliefs are, but I hope I don't upset you that Sheldon and I don't want to get married just because of pregnancy."

"Oh?" Mary's eyebrows shot up.

"I'm doing a Ph.D. in psychology, and in many many years of study, I've seen that divorce rates are much higher in couples that got married because of pregnancy, and those that simply remained in a relationship had much better balance in their relationship with each other and with their child. On top of which, I just don't feel like we're ready to be a mister and a missus. The baby being born will be a big enough step, and...we're doing okay right now, so..." Winona trailed off on Mary's steely-eyed look. "I'm sorry if that upsets you but it's how I feel."

Mary stared at her with a cold, considering eye. Then, she surprised the hell right out of Winona has she embraced her warmly. "My dear, while it's true I would prefer a child not to be born out of unholy wedlock, I will not risk anything for my son's well-being and happiness. So, if as you say, you are happy with things as they stand, I will believe that and support you both. However, you should know that if my son is at all made miserable, well, let's just say I've got a Colt forty-five, a shovel, and a sixteen-hundred acre ranch in Texas. Am I clear?"

"Crystal."


	8. Dillemma 2 Solved?

_Hello all, glad to see you R&R'ing like pro-stars! Just to clarify about the whole reason things ended between Leonard and Penny in my story - it's kind of a blend from the show and my story before. Penny went back to school, then Leonard discovered she'd lied about her motives for it: she only went back to impress him, not necessarily because she wanted to do it for herself, which led to an unseen falling-out and the end of their relationship as it existed romantically. This is a double chapter and leading up to a very hot n heavy scene between Leonard and Penny, since I cheated my faithful readers and reviewers out of it in the previous story. Enjoy! mbg._

Penny had returned to her apartment from shopping with Winona with a dual feeling of dread and anticipation. On the one hand, she was going on a date with Leonard, a true romantic date with him. On the other, she was going on a date with him, the first one since their relationship had gone just completely off the rails. Sure it had been rebuilt into a friendship albeit with some seriously awkward moments still when it was just the two of them alone together. Now they were not only going to have an entire night alone together, but a romantic one.

She'd heard Winona arrive at the apartment next door as she was checking her makeup one last time in the mirror, felt a chill settle in her stomach coupled with hope that Winona wouldn't end up crying or vomiting because of Sheldon's mother. Leonard was now alone at his apartment, and they were meeting there in just a few minutes.

Grabbing her jacket, she went across the hall and knocked on the door. It was answered by Leonard, that quiet, nervous smile on his face and - surprisingly - wearing his bathrobe, hair damp from a recent shower. "Hi."

"Hi."

"You look nice." It was a lame compliment, Leonard knew, since the truth was she looked like every man's dream - silky white blouse with a cerulean-blue jacket and dark-wash jeans, paired with black heels. She'd left her hair down in its natural waves and added silver windchime-like earrings that jingled musically when she moved. He held the door open wide and gestured. "Come on in. I wanted to wait until Sheldon and Winona were gone to get ready."

"Sure." Peny went inside, saw an open bottle of wine sitting on the counter beside two glasses. Her favourite label too, she noted, picking up the bottle to smell the fruity aroma. "Do mind if I-"

"Go ahead. I'm going to finish getting dressed."

Penny poured herself a small glass, as she knew she had a tendancy to drink too much too soon when she was in nerve-wracking situations and alcohol was readily available. Taking it with her, she strolled over to the bookshelf, wondered what kinds of books she might find there. There was scientific texts, naturally, on various concepts of physics she knew nothing about. But there was also a shelf dedicated to graphic novels and their histories, of the science of movie visual effects, and perhaps most inexplicably, a thin blue-covered book neatly titled _The Hoftstadter Fantasy_. Setting aside her wine, she pulled it off the shelf, thumbed it open to the first page, and began to read aloud to herself.

"The end of Michael's existence as a lonely, sex-deprived mathematical theorist beganwith the words 'new neighbour'. It was a question posed to his roommate Gordon as they reached the landing outside their apartment, armed with Indian take-out and a sense of piqued interest. In the open doorway of the apartment across the hall stood a woman who made the word 'dreamgirl' a lowly and disgusting term, profane and horrid to any ear."

Abandoning all pretense, she forgot about her wine and continued reading on about Michael and the new neighbour in question, Helena, a sweet story of missed signals on her part and neurotic misinterpretations on his part. Though she could see through the thinly veiled allusions to hers and Leonard's relationship - the fight with Helena's boyfriend onColumbusDay, Helena's job at TGI Friday's, Michael's neurotic roommate consistently reminding him that Michael would never have a true romance with Helena, and ultimately Michael's decision to ask Helena on a real date - Penny nevertheless found herself incredibly moved by the contents of it, and felt even more endeared to Leonard. His phrasing was stilted and corny in some places but it was there: Leonard, despite all her gentle let-downs, had never stopped loving her.

When she heard his approaching footsteps Penny hastily shoved the book back into the shelf, picked up her wine and pretended to be admiring the vast collection of academic books. She turned and felt a punch in her gut. Leonard didn't look quitely like his usual adorable self, in fact he looked quite sexy, like a little brother to Joaquin Phoenix. He'd foregone his usual academic look, including the neatly tucked-shirt and mismatched shoes-and-belt combo for something that Jude Law could have worn on GQ. The short-sleeved black oxford shirt was left loose, and instead of chinos or dress pants, he'd also opted for jeans and black leather shoes. He'd left his watch on and added a thin silver bracelet beside it that glinted when he reached for his jacket.

"Shall we go?"

"Uh-huh," was all Penny could manage as he held the door open for her. Dimly she heard him say that he'd made reservations for them at a new restaurant, to be followed by a movie of her choice at the CinePalace. She knew it was shallow of her, she knew it was probably only goign to lead to disappointment but in the time it took to get from their floor to the lobby of the apartment building, Penny found herself hoping and praying the night would end in that awesome, passionate sex she knew they were capable of having.

* * *

"I have to say, you have the oddest taste in movies for a girl."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I would never guess an attractive female would chose a movie based on a video game."

Penny blushed as she and Leonard climbed the stairs to their floor, not really ready to admit that she hadn't chosen _Max Payne_ for its storyline so much as the fact that Mark Whalberg was starring in the titular role. Somethings like that were better kept to herself, or in this case on the backburner, given how delicious Leonard looked; she couldn't help herself, he wsa just...rrrawr was the only thought that popped into her mind.

They reached their floor and both stopped on the landing looking from her apartment to his and back at each other, the same question burning on their minds - whose apartment would they go to? Hers or His? Or would they simply go their separate ways for the night after a short and sweet kiss, if that even happened? As a result of both being scared to bring it up, they stumbled over each others words.

"So maybe we could-"

"Would you like to-"

They stopped, laughing at each other and themselves before lapsing into an awkward silence. Then Leonard gestured. "Do you want to come in, have a glass of that wine with me?"

Penny touched the tip of her tongue to the roof of her mouth. It was probably the most wrong thing on a whole laundry-list of wrong things she could do that night with Leonard, drinking with him alone in his apartment, and yet... "Sure, sounds great."

They went in, went through the mechanical routine of pouring the drinks and sitting on the couch. The conversation was easy enough to keep up, but Penny kept feeling her thoughts drift back to the little blue book in the shelves behind them.

When she felt herself refocus on Leonard's words for what felt like the thousand time, she saw an unsettling hard light come into his eyes.

"What?"

"Who are you think about?"

Embarassed she'd been found out, Penny gulped her wine down, and tried for innocence. "What do you mean?"

"Do you think I'm stupid Penny? Do you think I couldn't tell you've been somewhere else in your head the entire time during our date?" Bitterness that Leonard tried to ignore the entire night, the sinking feeling that she was out with him - her second choice - couldn't be ignored any more. "I want to know who you are thinking about."

"Michael and Helena and Gordon."

"What?"

"Michael and Helena and Gordon," Penny repeated. She'd had enough wine to make the confession of her snooping seem like a good idea. Setting her glass aside, she went to the bookshelf and pulled out the book she'd been reading while he'd dressed. "From this."

Leonard's eyes went wide with shock. "What is that?"

"You tell me."

Penny had no problem watching him as he read through the short little blog-like entries, watching his face react to the book. In doing so, she realized something very crucial, something she hadn't even considered given the personal nature of the book and the tender affection with which the mock-blog entries had been written.

Leonard hadn't written it.

But if he hadn't, then who? Who else would have had such intimate knowledge of their relationship as was displayed in this book? Before she could delve any deeper into this question, Leonard set the book down and simply stared. Robotically, he picked up his wine as he carefully avoided her gaze.

"Huh. Didn't realize you'd taken to writing romance novels, Penny."

"What?"

"It's good, seriously good. I can't imagine that you'd have any trouble taking up a career in romantic comedy movies. But just one question." Leonard turned to her and stared coldly. "Was showing me this an effort to try and cheer me up, or remind me of the way things were before they got so screwed up?"

Penny stared. "I didn't write this Leonard, and it seriously hurts that you'd jump down my throat like that. This was supposed to be a chance to help fix things between us, not me being such a bitchy blond bimbo and say 'oh yeah you had a crush on me and I want to give you all the reasons and examples why we'd never work because I'm too out of your league'."

"Well what am I supposed to think, Penny?" Leonard was on his feet now, pacing the apartment. "You knew how much I liked you. Then we started dating and then you lied to me about why you went back to school, to West Valley. How could I not make the leap and ask the question, what else are you lying to me about?"

Penny was on her feet now too, her anger suddenly up and bubbling. "Hey, don't pin this on me, you jackass, try taking some responsibility for yourself, and think about what it did to me!"

"To you?"

"There I was coming off of one of the worst break ups of my life, and then I moved in across from you and you were the perfect solution for me, and when I started to feel the crush you had on me, all I could ask was _why_. _Why does this guy think I'm so extra-special_, anytime you were being so sweet and considerate to me. And it tore me apart that you did nothing for so long, because I wanted you to step up and do something! You want it in a nutshell? You broke my heart!"

"You broke mine first!" Leonard fired back before he could stop himself. When he saw the look on Penny's face, he swore. "Goddamn it, Penny, please don't cry."

"I'm not crying." But the wobble in her voice suggested otherwise, Penny knew. "But even still, it doesn't change the fact that I felt something for you then, when I met you, and I still do now! I mean, do you even know what it did to me to see you with that ball-busting science whore?"

"Leslie?"

"Yeah, her. She was so totally wrong for you, and I'm totally out of line here, but I was so glad when you broke up the first time and the second time because I hated the idea that you were getting involved with someone who didn't care about you like me."

Leonard felt like he'd been hit by a lightning bolt, as little pieces of a jagged jigsaw fell into place. "Is that...I mean...when Leslie hooked up after our string quartet practice-"

"Yes."

On the single word answer, Leonard crossed to Penny, and did something he'd wanted to do the entire night - he held her hands, pulilng her close to him. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I...I don't know. And what makes it worse...I knew it was more than a crush for me, too. Not then, but later."

"When?"

"The night I was feeling crappy and you drew me a bath. After you left, it hit me, and I felt like such a fool that I'd missed it for so long." Penny, suddenly nervous, looked down at their joined hands. "I don't know why I'm even telling you this now, I mean-"

Leonard cut her off then with a quick, passionate kiss that had Penny strangling a cry in her throat. The surprise of it, the rush she felt in her veins as she kissed him back, had her all but melting under his touch. She let go of his hands and pulled him tight against her, sliding her mouth from his mouth to his neck, and finally his shoulder, embracing him tightly. Then, she heard the words.

"Penny...I love you."


	9. In the Bedroom

_Hello everyone...so I have another double chapter, or chapter and a half, and all i can say is this is the reason i rated this story the way i did...i've also tried to make this more of a 'love' scene rather than smut or sex because that's not who these people are. So send the kids out of the room, haha, and R&R&Enjoy!! mbg._

* * *

Penny had to hold back a sob as she heard Leonard's voice say those simple words that carried such awesome and seductive power. She'd heard them used so many times, and yet...hearing them from someone who meant so much to her as Leonard did made it feel like they were new and fresh and unspoiled as a beautiful baby. She kissed his neck, up to his jawline, finally finding his mouth and her own words.

"I love you," she murmured as she kissed him again and again. "I love you, I love you. I love you so much."

Before he had time to think, Leonard found that she was kissing him once again, tugging at his shirt with fast and furious hands. Almost immediately his libido went from zero to Aida, but those first few seconds were crucial.

"Penny, slow down."

"What? I thought that's what you wanted." Confused and hormonally driven, Penny reattached herself to him. "Right here and now works for me."

Leonard brought a hand up to her face that wasn't quite steady to brush at the soft skin of her cheek, ease her back so he could look her in the eyes. "If we're going to do this, let's start things off right. Sex on my living room floor isn't exactly doing that."

Penny felt a moment of disappointment as Leonard took a step back; it was immediately replaced with a rush of lustful anticipation as Leonard took her hand and led her down the hall to his room. She sat down on the edge of his bed as he shut the door, nervous now that the act had been built up. Most of the guys she dated treated sex like it was a past-time on the same level like weight-lifting or video games, just another mechanism for stress release. All of them did, she realized, except for Leonard. Maybe that was what built up in her every time she'd been with him, that unrealized and unfulfilled need to be treated like something special. Because, she knew now, he did think she was special, and beautiful, and everything else in the middle, whatever it was.

When she looked up she lost all the spit in her mouth as Leonard walked over to her, stood in front of her and brushed a hand over her hair. His touch was so light, so careful, like he might scare her away if he pushed her too hard too fast. For a moment, Penny just leaned forward and embraced him around his hips, breathing deep the scent of him - Old Spice, soap and Snuggles fabric softener on his clothes. Then he was tilting her chin up and bending down to kiss her. It was light and hesitant at first and then powerful as they sank into it. Penny made a sound like a sigh in her throat, fumbled with his glasses and tossed them on the bedside table.

"Leonard, open your eyes."

He did so, blinking rapidly as he struggled to focus his myopic vision, making Penny smile. With one hand gripping his shirtfront lightly, she tugged to pull him off balance and on top of her. The fall was more of a slithering crawl, as his body weight pinned against her, his mouth lined up with hers. Penny felt a little shiver run down her back at the feel of his compact body fitting so naturally against hers; the way he was neatly nestled between her thighs, though they were still fully clothed, had her blood already pumping a little faster. With hands not quite sure, Penny ran her hands down his back and let them settle on the waist of his jeans before they slid under his shirt, up his smooth back where she felt the soft muscles bunch and flex under her touch.

Leonard closed his eyes as much in concentration as in pleasure. He would absolutely die of petrified embarassment if he let himself go too early, like a teenage virgin touching a naked breast for the first time. He never thought he'd have another chance with Penny since they split up, and yet Fate was having a fun time smiling on his fortunes. Propping himself up on his elbows, he found the bottom button of Penny's blouse and popped it, then the next and the next until the silky cotton fell open. He could see underneath a silk camisole tented by the swell of her impressive breasts that rose and fell like ocean swells from her laboured breathing. He helped her slide the shirt from her shoulders, as she fumbled with his buttons just as he had with hers. Both tops landed somewhere near the foot of the bed though neither cared, particularly Penny as she focused on the beautiful man in front of her. She ran her hands up his stomach as she sat up, kneeling and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"You're the most amazing man I've ever known," Penny murmured, ending on a little gasp as she felt those firm seeking hands gingerly feel their way under the edge of her camisole. She raised her arms over her head, telling him silently that he could strip her down. For the first time in a long time, she didn't feel the urge to move her hands to cover her breasts in front of a man. Instead, she placed one hand on his cheek, then took his and placed it on her breast just above her heart. "You got to me right here."

"So did you." Leonard smiled, put his lips to her palm and enjoyed feeling her heartrate increase at the action. Leaving his hand in place, with the other one, he pulled Penny's body tight against his and kissed her. He had to close his eyes again, at the feeling of Penny's naked breasts against his chest. With lightening speed, he gripped her shoulders from behind and bowed her backwards, lowering his mouth to those beautiful breasts. He knew right away this move was a hit, for Penny's response was an unintelligible gasping mutter, her hands kneeding into the flesh of his shoulders. Pressing his luck further, Leonard bowed her back until she was flat on her back and placed a trail of soft, open-mouthed kisses down the middle of her body, stopping just below her navel at the snap of her jeans. His fingers were suddenly nimble and agile as he carefully undressed her, sliding the jeans over her hips down to the floor, then her panties - her pink cotton panties with Hello Kitty's face in darker pink on them - leaving her trembling and naked on his bed. "God you are so beautiful."

He stretched himself out over her body again, neatly nudged his way between her thighs as he once again suckled on her breasts. The sensation of her being completely naked under him while he still had his jeans and boxers on was very odd and interesting at the same time; usually it was the other way around for him, that his pants went missing during sex but none of his partners wanted him to take his shirt off. And yet it was the very first thing Penny had relieved him of. When he felt Penny begin to grind her hips against his, Leonard ignored the rising need in himself and simply focused on her, matching the way she moved against him until he felt her whole body tense, then shudder as the orgasm overtook her senses. He smiled to himself, glad she couldn't see how ridiculously happy and aroused it made him that something as simply as his mouth on her breasts could bring her such pleasure, nor that he managed to keep himself together, but intact as it were. He knew that there was a time not so very long before her where his staying power through something like that was next to non-existent, particularly if he'd being using his mouth south of her border. But there would most definitely be time for that later.

Penny opened her eyes, staring at the ceiling as feeling came back into her extremities, her breath coming in heavy, ragged snatches. "Oh my god, Leonard. I can't believe, I mean...I've never...or haven't in awhile..."

Leonard simply smiled and kissed her. "It's okay, it's actually pretty hot."

Penny kissed him again, her tongue sliding around in his mouth, as if to tell him it was his turn to be ravished. But the orgasm he'd given her - mindblowing as it was - also made one very important word pop into her head in large neon letters.

"Listen, Leonard, I probably should have asked earlier, but do you have any condoms?"

"Yeah I do." Reaching into his bedside drawer, he fumbled around a bit until he came up with a small little foil square. Without warning, Penny took it from him.

"Stand up and turn around."

Too confused and turned on to really understand it, Leonard obeyed her instructions. "Penny, I don't think you-" He broke off on an oath, as Penny sat up and reached around his body so that she was undressing him as he had done to her. With his clothes gone and his feet bare, he felt a chill that was quickly replaced by a shudder as he heard the sound of the packet being ripped open, then felt the gentle caressing touch of Penny's hands as she protected them both. Leonard had known that foregoing a condom - something he'd wanted to try so badly with Penny - wasn't an option, given that even with protection his rooommate had knocked up his lover's best friend. Still he hadn't anticipated that the ceremony of putting on the condom would be incorporated into the foreplay, rather than bringing it to a crashing halt.

Leonard turned around and nearly wept at what he saw: in the time she'd taken her hands off of him, Penny had sprawled on his bed, stretched out like five and a half feet of glory, a soft sexy and inviting smile on her lips. Ranging his body over hers, Leonard nearly took the plunge, when he looked at her face and saw her eyes had filled with tears and were threatening to spill over.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"It's just...I've never felt this beautiful or sexy in bed with a man."

Leonard kissed her eyes as she closed them. "You are the most beautiful woman in the world." With that, he slid into her, filling her as she arched her back on a soft groan. "You are beautiful and generous and hiliarious, and I love you."

"I love you," she replied in a soft sigh, and repeated it over and over with each sweetly aching, agonizing stroke, the pleasure coiling inside her until it sprung explosively, once, twice, and on the third time, she heard Leonard's groan in her ear.

"I love you too."

When Penny felt him empty himself inside her, she knew it was the absolute truth.


	10. In the Other Bedroom

Across town in Winona's apartment, Sheldon stretched on his back in Winona's bed and studied her ceiling as he contemplated the evening. He'd been very impressed by Winona; she'd held her own against his formidable mother, and since Mary had left them to return to her hotel straight after dinner he assumed that either she was too angry to deal with them, or Winona had worked some kind of hoo-doo gypsy hex on her and bewitched her into giving them the evening to themselves. Unable to let it go, Sheldon drummed his fingers on the sheets and spoke his mind to Winona, who was brushing her teeth in the adjoining bathroom.

"Did you guys talk about anything?"

"Hmm?"

"You and my mother, when I was absent from the table, what did you talk about?"

"Oh." Winona, now dressed in a light cotton night-shirt, turned off the bathroom lights and laid down beside him. "I just told her that I didn't see any reason for us to get married just because we're having a child together."

"And she believed you?"

"Well, yeah. Then she threatened to kill me and bury on your family ranch if I made you unhappy, so..." Winona trailed off on a shrug. She should have known that Sheldon was goign to grill her like a cheese sandwich about anything that his mother might have said. Then again, upon hearing the news, Sheldon's mother had flown in from out of state to find out what in the blue hell was going on. Her own mother was a thirty-minute drive away in Beverly Hills and be damned if Clarissa Phillips Robertson Shuler could be bothered to pick up a telephone and call her only child in the last eight months. Hell, Clarissa hadn't even known that Sheldon was in her life the first time, much less the second. Winona thought about this, thought about her grandmother in Idaho. Dagmar would certainly have sound advice but she also didn't want to admit to her grandmother that she'd had sex outside of marriage, even though it was Dagmar wh'd given her the sex talk. And forget her father; Julien Phillips hadn't even remembered her birthday since she was twenty, how would she expect him to remember her now?

"Sheldon, do you think when we become parents, we'll turn into our parents?"

"Physically an impossibility. My father was about two hundred pounds heavier than me, not to mention blond with brown eyes. On top of which, he also thought that the reason deer season started when it did was because of fat-headed bureaucrats and nothing to do with the natural gestation period and life cycle of the white-tailed American deer. Added to which, the-"

Winona cut him off when she put a finger to his lips. "I meant, do we unconsciously take on their personality traits, both good and bad, or are we preprogrammed to be an individual parent to an individual child?"

"I sense this has something to do with my mother visiting." Sheldon knew this was an understatement, it was _exactly_ what precipitated this sudden sombre change in Winona's mood - he'd know from the way that they'd kissed in her kitchen that he would be, to use the colloquial phrase, 'getting lucky' that night - and this was usually followed by what he had concluded was conversational foreplay, but the perameters had now been altered by the concentration on a particular thought.

"Somewhat, yes. It just got me thinking about my own parents."

Sheldon didn't say a word, because he realized that he knew little to nothing about the maternal grandmother of his foetus. He'd heard Winona speak somewhat derisively of her in passing or used her as the punchline of a rather acidly-tongued joke, but her biography was as of yet a mystery. He turned on his side to face Winona completely. "What about them?"

"Their indifference towards me. My father's some kind of wheeler-and-dealer in Los Angeles business and my mother was a cocktail waitress slash model. She met him at some Hollywood Hills party where she was hired help, but sharp little Clarissa had her portfolio with her, he tried to make her into a supermodel, they married and had me, then split up when I was two. During that time, my mother became a rummy-head, in and out of rehab, causing minor havoc and giving paparazzi enough bread and butter for decades. Since my father had no interest in making his latest twenty-something model a stepmother, I went to live with his mother on her corn farm in Idaho until I was eighteen and going to UCLA."

Winona shifted so that she was propping her head on her hand. "I got occasional visits from them both but once I turned eighteen, my father simply said, 'here's your trust fund, go away'. My grandmother had insisted on that, that he should be setting up some kind of financial support for me so that I'd never need to go to him for a handout. A hundred thousand dollars a year, properly invested, so that by the timed I could collect on it, the interest would more than cover my personal costs. My mother had by then moved on from alcohol and cocaine to heroin and pretty much made Betty Ford her permanent mailing address. When I came out for school, I saw her twice a month, and on the good days, she thought I was an aspiring model seeking her sage advice. On the bad days she thought I was a tabloid reporter or government agent some such nonsense trying to steal her thoughts. After about a year, I stopped and she didn't even notice I wasn't there."

Sheldon reached out his hand to brush away the tears on her face, and wondered if she even knew they were there. "Noni, you are not your mother. There's nothing of that behaviour in you."

"But what about my father? He was a greedy bastard, always wanting more and wanting what he couldn't have, never happy with what he had in front of him. And aren't I the same? I've got a good job, a few degrees and certificates, good friends, a wonderful boyfriend who I'm having a baby with. But I want more, I want to have my doctorate and be married and have a real family and show my children how much they mean to me, and know that they're loved, and how much I love them."

"Noni, you are also not your father. If you were, I doubt we'd be in the situation of pregnancy." At Winona's short burst of laughter, Sheldon felt the tension dissipate a little. "There is a big difference between being ambitious and being greedy. Frederick Banting was ambitious because he was dissatisfied with the status quo treatments of diabetes. Victor Frankenstein was greedy because he deigned to be an Almighty Creator and discover the secret to life itself."

"You do know that you compared a Canadian Nobel Prize-winning scientist to a nineteenth century figment of Mary Shelley's imagination."

"Yes but Mary Shelley was a highly intelligent individual and could be counted upon to include plausible inquiry methods in her literature. Not to mention the fact that Mary Shelley's inspiration was the Greek legend of Prometheus which was a cautionary tale of greed at its most elemental levels."

Winona laughed genuinely this time; was it any wonder that she was crazy about this crazy guy? Scooting closer to him, she kissed his lips fully, savouring the sweet and still somehow innocent taste of him, then let out a little gasp when he rolled on top of her. He'd definitely become much more comfortable with this aspect of their relationship since they'd gotten back together, she noted, making her fleetingly wonder if he'd been with anyone else in the in-between time. The thought was momentary, though, as Sheldon gently kissed her neck, making her blood sizzle. She made a low sound in her throat as she tugged at the t-shirt he wore and pulled it over his head, running her hands over that pale skin and pulling him tight against her.

His hands were trembling a little, Sheldon noted, as he slid them under her nightshirt, over the beginnings of the baby bump of her body. His work, he realized with some humbling amazement, it was his body that was responsible for this change in her body. With one hand still on her belly, he managed to slip the thin cotton over her head so that like him, she was naked to the waist.

"You're beautiful," he murmured, kissing her lightly. "You're so beautiful, Winona."

"I'm going to get fat."

"Pregnant," he corrected. "You need to increase your body mass so as to provide the proper support for our baby."

Winona's heart melted into a puddle as heat lanced her body. It was the first time he'd called it 'our baby', not the foetus or the child, but the baby, and more importantly, their baby. Wrapping her arms around him tightly, she pulled him close so she could whisper in his ear, "And you are going to get very lucky."

With that, Winona kissed him fully, not giving him the chance to change his mind, though if past experience was any indication, he'd never change his mind when it came to sex. It was such a contradiction, his shy demeanour belying the dynamo she knew lay within. She arched against him, her breasts pressing into his chest, reveling in a purely female way when she felt his body respond against hers too. Shoving at his pyjama pants Winona dug fingers into his soft flesh, slightly disappointed when he pulled back to kick the pjs free since it left a gap between them. Once again, he came back to her, his rangy body with its sharp angles fitting perfectly against the lush curves of hers, his hands caressing the small swell of her tummy.

Leaving his hand there Sheldon carefully slipped inside her, his woman, and felt an unparalleled sense of pleasure when she sighed and accepted him. With his mouth fused to hers, he kept his movements gentle, each one eliciting a soft groan from Winona until he felt the tension in her body coil and release as she went over the edge; as she crested again, Sheldon held her close and let himself follow her.

They lay on her bed, chests heaving as both struggled to catch their breath. Winona had flipped onto her stomach, as it always seemed to help her breathe better, and studied Sheldon's face, now a study of concentrated nerves.

"Noni?" His voice was quiet and serious.

"Hmm?"

"I want you to be my wife." When Winona's eyes popped wide at him, Sheldon gave a small, comforting smile. "Our baby deserves better than what you had, much better. We don't have to get married any time soon, but I want you, eventually, to be my wife."

Winona closed her eyes, forced the tears back. "Yes."


	11. At the Doc's

_Hello everyone...I apologize for such a delay in the update but as real life happens so fanfic must be put on pause, but I'm back with chapter 11, so R&R&Enjoy!! (Also a warning, anything Sheldon mentions with the doctor is completely made up, talk about difficult research to do) mbg._

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For the next month, Sheldon and Winona were nearly inseperable. Nearly every waking moment when they weren't working was spent poring over catalogues of baby supplies and books on what Winona would experience as she went through the various stages of her pregnancy. They'd agreed to wait on the traditional and (in Sheldon's opinion) somewhat silly rituals of the baby shower and such, but they'd also pinned down some of the more important aspects of the whole situation. Winona and Sheldon both agreed that while Winona's apartment would be the principle home for the child, once the child hit about six months or so they would also set up a nursery at Sheldon's apartment as well. Sheldon had balked a little at this at first but also realized that it wasn't just about him anymore, he had others in his life he had to consider and eventually agreed. The idea of a new apartment for them all was thought of and rejected, as both still had leases on their respective abodes that would end when the baby was aproximately two months, and the idea of moving with a newborn was beyond ridiculous to both of them.

But the most difficult hurdle to face had been when they made the decision to tell Winona's grandmother, Dagmar. They had flown to Idaho and broken the news to her as gently and honestly as they could. To their never-ending surprise, Dagmar had been ecstatic to hear that she would be a great-grandmother, and thrilled to see her only grandchild so happy. She had also been very blunt and said that a man like Sheldon would not be her first choice for Winona but nevertheless she could see how happy they were together, and how well they fit. Thus, she would offer support in whatever way she could in order for her baby girl's

Now, in full bloom at 17 weeks, Winona was laying on the table of her OBGYN's exam room, staring at portraits of women at various stages of gestation; her favourite was of a woman sitting under a tree in a floating dress, rubbing her pregnant belly and smiling like she couldn't wait to open her favourite present at Christmas. The look of absolutely calm and pure love on her face was so beautiful, Winona could help but wonder if she was already given labour-pain happy drugs.

"Which one are you looking at?" From his chair, Sheldon followed his girlfriend's - no his _fiance's_ - line of sight and saw her staring at the photos on the wall, thankful for the mild distraction the pictures offered. He still didn't understand why Winona wanted him to go to the doctor's with her. It was one thing to be kept aprised of all medical notes and such, it was another to go to a 'baby-and-lady-parts specialist' as his mother called them. Sheldon still couldn't understand why it made him so nervous; obviously childbirth was a natural part of life and consistent and rigorous prenatal care was critical. Still he didn't so much care for the idea that since he was with Winona, it became quite obvious to everyone in the waiting room and now the doctor that he'd actually had sex - something after his and Winona's relationship had turned physical he'd considered quite personal. Only Leonard, Penny, and Winona had initially known. Now that number had expanded to more people than he cared to count and it included complete strangers, too. Hoping to shake himself from his embarassed thoughts, and since Winona hadn't appeared to have heard him, Sheldon repeated a little louder, "Which one are you looking at?"

"That black and white one there, the woman under the tree."

"Ah, yes, my niece, right before she went to the hospital for delivery."

Winona and Sheldon both glanced up as a sturdy, kind-faced woman in a white lab coat and comfortable looking clothes stepped into the room. "I'm Doctor Branch, Winona's OBGYN. You must be Sheldon, the father."

"And the fiance," Winona chipped in as she scooted herself into position for the exam, causing Sheldon to pink from his shirt collar to his hairline.

"I thought we agreed we weren't talking about that with anyone just yet."

As Branch began her exam of her patient, Sheldon raised himself from his chair and wandered over to inspect the equipment. "I take it you're using the digital rendering ultrasound to check the foetus' development?"

Branch eyed him warily. "Yes."

"I see. And you're also aware that this is still a piece of technology whose longterm health ramifications are still in the 'spotty at best' stage of documentation?"

From her prone position, Winona patted Branch's arm. "Ignore him, he thinks he knows everything."

"Quite alright. A lot of fathers who take it upon themselves to do their own research often go overboard with panic at certain points."

"Excuse me, but I do happen to know a lot of things worth knowing and secondly, I am not going overboard with panic, I just consider it good common sense to be well informed."

Branch chuckled softly. She'd heard Winona's stories about the father of her child on her previous visits but seeing him now in person didn't do the stories justice. Satisfied with what she saw on the monitor, she made notes in the file and began pushing buttons on the ultrasound machine. "Everything's looking good, but I do want to keep an eye on your blood pressure. Your family history indicates a predisposition to hypertension and left unchecked that could lead to more significant problems in the third trimester. Now, would you like to hear the heartbeat?"

"Of course. Sheldon, come over here."

Rolling his eyes only slightly, Sheldon moved to Winona's head and automatically took her hand as the black and white image fluttered on the screen. Sheldon felt Winona's grip tighten, and felt his own throat begin to close. The image on-screen looked like someting out of _Star Trek_, but it was still obviously a child, one hand by its mouth, the other fisted up near its left eye.

"Wow." Sheldon cocked his head to the side. "That is most definitely our child."

"Well, duh, sweetie."

"No, I mean it."

Confused, Winona slid her gaze over to Sheldon. "Why do you say that?"

"It's only a few months into gestation and he's already trying to do the Vulcan salute."


	12. Author's Note IMPORTANT!

Author's Note

First of all let me thank those who have given me such awesome praise in your reviews...I thoroughly enjoy reading how much all of you enjoy the story.

Secondly, I apologize to the fans olf the story who have been hotly anticipating the next chapter. The reason I have been delayed in writing it (aside from obligations in real life) is because I have two very different, very dramatic endings in mind for this story and am 100% torn as to which one to pick: one happy and one sad. That is why I'm putting it in your hands. PM me so that you can offer me your opinion. I will take votes, opinions and ideas on this until Feb 20/09.

Cheers and happy reviewing

mbg.


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